Chocolate Strawberry Tart

Until about a month ago, I counted myself among the clever ones who had discovered the pre-made, rollout pie crusts in the refrigerator section. The thought of actually starting from scratch was fraught with peril — and for no reason that I cared to look into. Then two things happened: There wasn’t room on the list for prepackaged pie crusts; and I watched Ina Garten zap a little butter and flour together in a food processor and make it look downright doable. I got the guts to give it a try, and YES, it’s doable. A tart crust is the same basic concept as a pie crust, just denser, richer and not as flaky. This Chocolate Strawberry Tart is an invention that stemmed from hankering to give a tart crust a try, combined with a hunch that Bill and our dinner guests would probably prefer a dessert that did not include flax.

Ingredients

For the crust

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp raw sugar ground to a fine powder in a coffee or herb grinder

8 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 Tbsp cold water

For the filling

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 cup cocoa

1 cup raw sugar ground to a fine powder in a coffee or herb grinder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

1 Tbsp. half and half

Topping

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 425.

Measure flour, sugar and salt into a food processor fitted with a large, steel blade. Cut the butter into about 16 pieces and add to the dry ingredients.

Pulse just until the butter is incorporated and the mixture resembles flakes of oatmeal.

Continue pulsing and slowing pour in 2 Tbsp of water. Process for a few more seconds until the dough is damp enough to form a ball. Add a few more drops of water if necessary.

Pat the dough onto a floured work surface and roll out until it is large enough for your tart pan. (Because the filling for this recipe is not very deep, I opted for a free-form tart without the pan, and simply raised the edges.)

Prick the bottom of the tart shell with a fork and line the shell with a double thickness of aluminium foil that has also been poked with a few holes.

Bake the crust at 425 for 10 minutes.

Cool before adding chocolate filling.

Filling

Slowly melt butter in in small, heavy saucepan

Add chocolate and raw sugar that has been ground to a fine powder. Whisk briskly.